Posted by Thanks Jo. We'll keep trying!
on June 20, 2008, 1:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Separation Anxiety"
--Previous Message--
: Hi Rita
: Poor Abbey! She does sound very stressed
: indeed and it must be a worry for you to
: leave her.
: You are doing the right thing for now, by
: making sure she is not left alone until she
: gets over her anxiety.
: Firstly, dogs chew to release endorphins and
: calm themselves down (it's like self
: medication therapy), hence the destruction
: you are finding when you return to the
: house. (I'm sure you're not, but make sure
: she doesn't get told off or pick up any bad
: vibes from you for the mess/destruction she
: causes, as this can create a negative
: association of you returning to the house).
: What you will need to do is help restore her
: confidence for being by herself and for this
: you will need to dedicate some time every
: day to practice leaving the house without
: fuss and coming straight back in (literally
: within seconds). The purpose of this is to
: show Abbey that you leave the house and come
: back immediately before she has had time to
: start worring, thus it's a positive
: association with you returning whilst she is
: calm. When you do return, be careful not to
: fuss over her a lot especially if she is
: jumping up and very excited, you just want
: to promote calm behaviour and the sense that
: is normal for you to come and go and there
: is no big drama about it.
: Because you know you will only be leaving
: the house for a matter of seconds, you will
: be less anxious about leaving her and as
: dogs are incredibly sensitive to our
: emotions, Abbey will also pick up on this.
: (Likewise she most likely picks up on your
: anxiety/worry about leaving her which
: exacerbates her separateion anxiety once
: you've gone).
: When you start practising this, be sure to
: wind down any sort of interaction with Abbey
: a good half hour before you leave, so she
: doens't become aware a huge contrast - i.e.
: lots of noise and fuss and attention while
: you are in the house, and then suddenly
: you've gone and it's all quiet! Leave the
: radio/dishwasher/TV on if you like, all for
: background noise.
: Do the coming and going, and assuming she is
: staying calm, you can build up to going to
: the end of the drive, and then increase the
: minutes you are away. This will take time
: and practice, but Abbey will get better over
: time.
: A good book to read is Sarah Fisher
: "How to unlock your dogs
: potential".
: Let us know how you get on.
: Jo
: www.iwantahappyhound.co.uk
:
:
: --Previous Message--
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: We have got a seven year old female Beagle
: called Abbey who we've had for about two
: years. She came from a kennels who bred
: Beagles for show dogs and she had two
: litters before we got her. She was well
: looked after so no problems there.
:
: She is the most laid back, calm,
: affectionate dog you could wish to meet.
: Until, that is, we had that earthquake in
: April. My husband and I slept through the
: whole thing and it was only when we came
: down in the morning that we realised Abbey
: hadn't. She had scratched and chewed three
: doors and the surrounding frame and there
: was wood all over the place. She must have
: been terrified.
:
: Since then we haven't been able to leave her
: on her own during the day as she cries and
: howls and creates even more damage. We are
: in the middle of trying a lot of things
: including plug-in soothers, calming drops in
: her food and an old jumper of mine to cuddle
: up to. We have brought in a cage and she
: seems quite happy in until we go out.
: Consequently, I have to take her to work
: with me, something I can't keep doing and if
: we are going out for the evening she has to
: go into kennels where she is quite happy.
: She is O.K at night but not through the day.
: Has anyone got any suggestions please?
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